Lakshmi release date gets pushed ahead

The India release of Nagesh Kukunoor’s Lakshmi, which recently had a packed premiere at the Palm Springs International Film Festival in California, has hit a roadblock.

The film, which deals with sensitive issues like human trafficking and child prostitution, was supposed to hit the theatres on January 17. But now it seems Kukunoor will have to wait, thanks to the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) which found certain scenes objectionable when the film was shown to them last November and passed the film to the revising committee.

Lakshmi, which had its US premiere at the gala, narrates the story of a 13-year-old girl kidnapped and sold into prostitution; her refusal to give up hope and her courageous stand against her oppressors. It was hailed at the 25th edition of the fest.
It was was feted with the Mercedes Benz Audience Award for best narrative feature, based on viewers’ votes at the Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF).

The festival, held from Jan 3-13, 2014, screened 191 films from 60 countries, including 46 of the 76 foreign language entries for this year’s Oscars, read a statement of the event’s official website.